WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. THIS BLOG HAS BEEN CALLED "THE DEFINITIVE BLOG ON MIAMI CRIMINAL LAW" BY THE NY TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE POPE, AND DONALD TRUMP WHO ALSO ONCE SAID IT WAS "REALLY GREAT". POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM

Friday, November 28, 2008

BLACK FRIDAY

GOOD MORNING. It's 56 degrees in Miami at 6:00 AM.

It's Black Friday. CNBC reports that there are lines around the block at Best Buys and Toys R Us in New Jersey and across the nation.

Query: If there are great deals today, and it is a slow shopping season, won't there be better deals next week and next month?

Miami Super Lawyer Bill Matthewman sent to us his nomination for the Sgt. Schultz

"I know NOTHING, I see NOTHNG" award. He nominated the DOJ attorney who told Judge Cooke that the section of the money laundering statute that exempted attorneys from being prosecuted had "no meaning" and that it did not apply to Ben Kuehne's prosecution for money laundering for accepting and approving attorneys fees.

This one is a no-brainer ( which is an apt phrase when speaking of DOJ laywers) and that prosecutor is the hands down winner this month.

By the way, Bill's won a couple of big cases recently that we neglected to mention, including one North of the Border where in total contravention to their religion, the prosecutors nolle prossed the case the Friday before the trial.

We lost our under pick in the Lions debacle, but called it correct that the Eagles (pronounced "iggles" in certain parts of Western Pennsylvania) would bounce back and beat the Cardinals by more than 3. We finished the day down 5 (the vig) and head into the week 654 Turkeys in the black.

Rump= I am in NYC for Thanksgiving and when I'm in NYC I like to view independent films that don't make it to Miami. I just saw a remarkable one- The Secret- about three women in ultra-orthodox Judaism. It was released in Israel last year and has won several awards.

As I am a film lover, I stay through the credits and Imagine my surprise when one of the co-producers is listed as "Kenneth L. Weisman." Now I realize that is a common enough name, but is this our Kenny Weisman? Is his middle name L? Does he know anything about ultra-orthodox judaism?

Rumpole, I will use this down time on the blog to promote the release of my new book: IT'S A SHANDAH- THE RISE AND FALL OF WEINER, ROBBINS, TUNKEY, & ROSS- THE MOST POWERFUL CRIMINAL LAW FIRM IN MIAMI.

My book details the ins and outs of the sometimes dirty criminal law legal business in Miami. From their early days when Fred Robbins was representing drugs dealers and police officers, through the "Ron Gainor" experiment, through the shady dealings about their yacht the "KNOT GUILTY" through the downturn in the 90's and when Ross left the firm, through Tunkey's gas station enterprises out west, all the way through the firm's current revival I catalogue how it all happened. What went right, and what tragically went wrong.

IT'S A SHANDAH, from Hyperion Books, to be released December 20, 2009.

1:31 PM- you might, stress, might be right. Everyone knows (or it's public record) that the lawyer in question is heir to the Hamilton Beach Scoville fortune, so he has plenty of cash to invest in pet projects like indy films. He has also been known to dabble, just dabble, in Jewish mysticism.

At the turn of the 20th century the company was known as Weisman-Scoville of Hamilton Beach. When the company got a national reputation the name was amended for "cultural reasons" to Hamilton Beach Scoville. But he has the bucks, so it's possible he invested in the indy film.